Pagan Rosary/Goddess Beads

For centuries people have used numbered beaded strings to count the prayers they said, dedicated to their Deity. Most notably, the Catholic faith continues today to use prayer beads or "Rosary's". Pagans are no exception. Many Pagans of the past also used prayer beads. Today the practice is making a big comeback with religions such as Wicca making new use of the beads.


Making your own is as easy as threading beads on a string. How it's threaded is dependant on what you're trying to accomplish. The most common Pagan type of prayer bead or rosary is a Triple Goddess type rosary, consisting of three sections of 13 beads (13 representing the 13 full moons of a year, and a sacred number to the Goddess, 3 representing her triple aspect). Each section or "decade" being one color representing each aspect of the Triple Goddess: White, Red and Black. Separating each "decade" would be a silver bead, representing the Full Moon.

The prayer beads can vary in their form and function. Not all prayer beads are Triple Goddess style, some even look like typical Catholic rosaries, with five decades and five beads at the beginning, with some type of medallion at the end. Still others look more like bracelets (making them easier to carry without questions as to their function).

As to what to say during these beads...that's up to you. I myself have had troubles finding just the right type of prayer to say with any prayer beads. But that doesn't stop me from making them. I find it relaxing to create a set of prayer beads.

My latest creation in Rosary/Prayer Beads is a set of 3 decades of 13 beads, separated by silver/black spacer beads. All the beads are black hematite. However, when I make beads, I do not string them on strong string. I make each bead an individual link in a chain of beads. It's painstaking work, but the outcome gives me a strong sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. I will add a key charm to this set of beads and wear them as a bracelet so I may have prayer beads with me at all times (the key being one of the many symbols of Hecate, the Goddess I serve).


If you would like to make a set of prayer beads in the same fashion I make, here is an instruction:


You will need:
-Either eye pins, or a roll of wire (preferably 20-22 gauge)
-Regular pliers, round nosed pliers, and wire clippers
-Whatever sort of beads you wish to use


If you don't have eye pins, take a small length of wire and create a loop at one end, by rolling from the very tip of the wire around the smaller part of the round nosed pliers once

Thread your bead to the end of the looped wire or "hand made eye pin". Bend the wire at a 90 degree angle

 If your wire is too long, snip it with your wire snippers about a bead width

Create a loop by following the instructions to make an eye pin (wrapping the wire around the round nosed pliers)

Continue the above instructions to create as many wired beads as you wish to make your "rosary".

To link them together, you simply open an end of one of the loops on your bead and hook it to the closed end of another bead. Close the loop, and you have two beads linked. Eventually, you will have something that looks like this:

The End Result:

Using the same instructions above, you can also make traditional looking rosaries: